A Clearwater police report issued Friday confirms Hulk Hogan died of natural causes.
It also paints a picture of a 71-year-old pro wrestling icon whose health had been deteriorating following recent neck and heart surgeries, a leukemia diagnosis, and kidney issues.
Police said the case was closed and they were releasing the file because of “extraordinary public interest” in Hogan's death. The 72-page report includes investigators’ interviews with multiple witnesses, and reviews of medical records and home surveillance video.
Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died July 24, 2025, at his Clearwater home while receiving home health care. According to the report, an occupational therapist and home health aide were present with Hogan’s wife, Sky, when he suffered cardiac arrest.
The occupational therapist, Justin McCamey, told police he had completed his initial evaluation of Hogan the week prior and “was kinda surprised he made it through the week.”
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Hogan’s medical issues were mounting, and he was placed on full-time home health care. Only weeks before his death, he underwent neck fusion surgery and a procedure to repair a heart valve. In addition, he began chemotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia a week earlier and was scheduled to start dialysis later that day.
Hogan ate blueberries and yogurt for breakfast, and when McCamey arrived about 9:30 a.m., Hogan was sleeping in a living room recliner, the report said.
McCamey and home health aide Dana Swinton went to prepare the bathroom for therapy and returned about 10 minutes later, when McCamey advised “something was ‘off’ with Mr. Bollea,” because Hogan’s supplemental oxygen “was silent and he could not hear (Hogan) breathing,” according to the report.
The therapist then attempted to take Hogan's vital signs and discovered he had no pulse. After McCamey, Swinton and Sky Bollea moved the former wrestler to the ground, the therapist began CPR while Hogan’s wife called 911.
Clearwater Fire and Rescue and Sunstar personnel arrived within minutes and took over CPR, investigators said. Paramedics put Hogan on a cardiac monitor and found he was in asystole, indicating a lack of cardiac activity.
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Hogan was transported to Morton Plant Hospital, about three miles away. After 45 minutes of lifesaving measures, he was pronounced dead at 11:17 a.m.
The Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner ruled Hogan suffered a cardiac arrest and died from natural causes. A private autopsy on Aug. 16 — arranged by Hogan’s family — concurred, stating there were no “reasonable traumatic or terminal toxicologic contributions.”
According to Pinellas County court documents, Hogan's family filed a petition Sept. 30 to extend the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice investigation.
However, Hogan’s medical records reviewed by investigators at Morton Plant Hospital, Tampa General Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center showed no indications of criminality or surgical complications.
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The report also documents questions that surfaced in July 2025 about whether a nerve injury may have occurred during Hogan’s neck surgery. McCamey initially suggested to police that the phrenic nerve could have been severed during the procedure, but later clarified his comments were not based on firsthand surgical knowledge.
The Clearwater Police Department thanked Hogan's wife and children, Nick and Brooke, and their attorney, Kevin Hayslett, for their cooperation during the investigation.
"Their willingness to allow our investigators access to very personal information, at a time when they were grieving and struggling, was extremely helpful," the agency said in a statement. "We would not have had the legal justification to obtain much of the information without their cooperation."
